Azerbaijan is holding Armenians hostage

During its genocidal attacks on the Armenian Christians of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2020 and 2023, Azerbaijan abducted a number of Armenian soldiers, civilians, and political leaders. Azerbaijan is currently confirmed to be holding at least 20 Armenian hostages after releasing four imprisoned civilians in a prisoner exchange with Armenia in January 2026. The true figure may be as high as 100. CSI calls for all Armenian hostages to be released without delay.

Political prisoners

            
Ruben Vardanyan – former state minister
The businessman and philanthropist who served as minister of state until February 2023 was abducted when trying to cross into Armenia. Vardanyan was taken to Baku where he is in pre-trial detention charged with financing “terrorism,” creating and participating in “illegal armed organizations” and illegally crossing the Azerbaijani border. 

Arayik Harutyunyan – former president 
Harutyunyan was the fourth president of the Republic of Artsakh, serving from May 2020 until his resignation on September 1, 2023. He was arrested in October 2023 and is currently in pre-trial detention.

Bako Sahakyan – former president 
Arrested on October 3, 2023, and currently in pre-trial detention, Sahakyan was the third and longest-serving president of the Republic of Artsakh. He was in office from July 2007 until May 2020.

Arkadi Ghukasyan – former president
Ghukasyan was Nagorno Karabakh’s second president, serving from 1997 to 2007. He was arrested on October 3, 2023 and is being held in pre-trial detention.

Davit Ishkhanyan – National Assembly speaker
Ishkhanyan was elected speaker of parliament in August 2023, just one month before Azerbaijan’s offensive. He too was arrested on October 3. 

David Babayan – former foreign minister
Babayan served as foreign minister from 2021 to 2023. In January 2023 he became a presidential advisor. Knowing that he was on Azerbaijan’s wanted list, he announced on September 28 that he was handing himself over. The following day he was arrested in connection with “crimes” committed during the war in 2020. He is in pre-trial detention charged with more than ten counts of violating the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. 

Levon Mnatsakanyan – former minister of defense
Mnatsakanyan commanded the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army from 2015 to 2018. He was arrested at the Lachin Corridor border checkpoint on September 29, 2023 and is currently in pre-trial detention.

Davit Manukyan – former deputy minister of defense
Arrested on September 29, 2023 and remanded to pre-trial detention for his role in defending Nagorno Karabakh from Azerbaijani aggression as the republic’s deputy defense minister, Manukyan has been charged with “terrorism,” illegal possession and transportation of weapons and ammunition, forming “armed groups” and illegal border crossing.

Civilian hostages

            
Madat Babayan
The 71-year-old shepherd disappeared during the Azerbaijani invasion of Nagorno Karabakh on September 19, 2023. On November 2, Baku announced that he had been detained.

Rashid Beglaryan
On August 1, 2023, Azerbaijani security forces detained the 62-year-old Artsakh resident after he got lost near his home village and accidentally wandered into an Azerbaijani military zone.
On July 12, 2024 an Azerbaijani military tribunal sentenced Beglaryan to 15 years in prison.

Karen Avanesyan
Karen Avanesyan is one of a handful of Karabakh Armenians to have remained in Nagorno Karabakh following Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military offensive. In September, 2025, Avanesyan was arrested by Azerbaijani security services for allegedly plotting a “terrorist” attack on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The 58-year-old was sentenced to 16 years in prison on December 25.

Prisoners of War

            
Khosrovyan, Alyosha Aramayis
Age: 56
Date of capture: October 3, 2020
Sentenced to 20 years in prison

Mkrtchyan, Lyudvig Mkrtich
Age: 54
Date of capture: October 20, 2020
Place of capture: Fizuli, Nagorno Karabakh
Sentenced to 20 years in prison on August 2, 2021

Balayan, Levon
Age: 46
Date of capture: September 2023
Place of capture: Nagorno Karabakh

                            Allahverdyan, Davit
                                        Age: 36

Date of Capture: September 2023

Place of Capture: Nagorno Karabakh
                                
Beglaryan, Vasili
Age: 31
Date of Capture: September 2023
Place of Capture: Nagorno Karabakh

Martrosyan, Garik
Age: 52
Date of Capture: September 2023
Place of Capture: Nagorno Karabakh

Pashayan, Melikset
Age: 53
Date of Capture: September 2023
Place of Capture: Nagorno Karabakh

Stepanyan, Gurgen
Age: 37
Date of Capture: September 2023
Place of Capture: Nagorno Karabakh

Ghazaryan, Erik
Age: 39
Date of Capture: September 2023
Place of Capture: Nagorno Karabakh